The Civil Aviation Agency (ACV) did not always act strictly in accordance with its competences, but sometimes "looked through the fingers" of certain entities in air traffic.
This is claimed by several "Vijesti" sources informed about the work of the ACV, who deny it.
"Vijesti" interlocutors, aviation experts, stated for example that there were omissions and deficiencies when calculating the so-called operational envelope (possibility) of passenger planes of the national airline Air Montenegro, as well as of Monetnegro Airlines (MA), which went bankrupt. In the calculation of the so-called the operational envelope of the aircraft includes data on the weight of the aircraft, fuel and the cargo it carries in the context of data on temperature and air density, i.e. the altitude of the airport from which the aircraft takes off. This is important for the safety of aircraft operations, so that the way the aircraft is loaded and used does not "exceed" the technical limits set by its basic construction, thereby jeopardizing flight safety. This calculation, together with the so-called balance sheet (calculation of weight distribution in the plane), which must be done before every flight, is important for flight safety.
The claims of the "Vijesti" interlocutor were denied by the CAA, replying that they do not have a legal role that allows them to protect the business model of any entity, and that it "performs business within its competence towards all aviation entities impartially and in accordance with the regulations".
"The agency carries out all tasks within its competence in relation to all aviation entities impartially, regardless of whether they are entities whose majority owner is the state of Montenegro or they are privately owned," the CAA answered "Vijesti" to the question that comment on the claims of some aviation experts that the Agency "behaved inferiorly and protectively towards some entities of aviation in Montenegro (Airports of Montenegro, Air Montenegro, helicopter unit of the MUP, the Government's aviation service), in order to protected their work, allegedly due to higher political and state interests".
Shortcomings
The ACV admits that in previous years there were certain deficiencies with the national airline, which, they say, have been corrected.
"Last year, an inspection was carried out at ToMontenegro, and the subject of the inspection was the area of calculating the 'operational envelope' of the aircraft, which is regulated by the corresponding sub-legal act. On that occasion, certain irregularities were noted, after which ToMontenegro submitted evidence on the elimination of those irregularities. The agency has no information that ToMontenegro is deviating from the prescribed conditions in this area", said the CAA.
They said that they continuously check "the compliance of aviation entities in relation to the conditions prescribed by the Air Traffic Act and its by-laws", that is, that "the supervision that CAA conducts over aviation entities ensures the stable safety and security of air traffic, and from that aspect there can be no fear" .
According to the interlocutor of "Vijesti" who is close to ACV, and who has extensive experience in the field of aircraft maintenance and the budget of the so-called operational envelopes of passenger planes, with the former national airline MA, but also for a time with Air Montenegro, there were omissions and shortcomings regarding these calculations, especially for "Fokker F-100" and "Embraere E-195" type airplanes.
"I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to determine the so-called, based on the correct premises, indisputable data and appropriate procedures that are usually carried out by specially trained 'flight performance' engineers in airlines. safety margins when performing flight operations. Namely, in case of failure of one engine during the run-in of the plane on the runway before reaching the so-called V1 (speed of decision-making on whether to continue or suspend the aircraft take-off procedure) you must determine exactly whether the aircraft with the load it carries, the temperature and density of the air in which it operates and the orography of the terrain around the airport, can in such conditions with one correct safely take off with the engine, make the so-called school circle and return to the airport", explains the interlocutor of "Vijesti", who says that he is familiar with the procedures of how the "safety margins" and "operational envelopes" of the aircraft are calculated in MA and Air Montenegro.
He previously worked for a long time as a "flight operations" engineer in the former JAT and emphasizes that the calculation of the operating envelope is a mandatory and integral part of the Operations Manual Part B, and without its strict compliance, the ACV cannot even issue a basic AOC air operator certificate.
The interlocutor of "Vijesti" claims that the European Union Agency for Air Traffic Safety EASA will be officially informed about this and the flawed way in which CAA controlled this, in accordance with Montenegro's obligations under regulation EC376/2014, "which such things treats them seriously and considers them as evidence of a potential discount in the safety of conducting aviation operations in a country". According to the "Vijesti" interlocutor, this could harm the closing of Chapter 14 in Montenegro's EU accession negotiations.
Another interlocutor of "Vijesti" from CAA claims that these shortcomings in relation to the calculations were eliminated at a special workshop held for the staff of CAA and the national airline several months ago on the subject by an expert from the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency, and that things in in that area they now function flawlessly.
"In order to improve this area, CAA organized professional training on the topic of aircraft mass and balance, where representatives of aviation entities participated", this was indirectly confirmed to us by CAA.
The AOC certificate has no shortcomings
Although one of the interlocutors who contacted "Vijesti" claims that due to these deficiencies that were noted last year, the CAA, according to European regulations, could not issue an AOC certificate to either MA or Air Montenegro, the Agency claims that everything is fine with their AOC.
"The AOC certificate is issued by the Agency after determining that the conditions prescribed by the Air Traffic Act and the Rulebook on Technical Requirements and Procedures for Air Operations have been met. With this rulebook, regulation (EU) 965/2012 was adopted into the legal system of Montenegro, after which a number of other EU regulations, amendments to Regulation 965/2012, which includes two amendments to this regulation from 2023, were also transposed, and this says it best on the dynamics of compliance with EU requirements", say the CAA.
The Agency says that in the work of their supervisors, "there is no and must not be any looking through the fingers".
"If someone has such information, i.e. evidence, we believe that they will submit it so that we can carry out additional, internal controls within the Agency and take adequate measures", emphasized the CAA.
In order to eliminate the suspicion of an insufficient level of professionalism or insufficient professional training, we appreciate that, according to the Agency, what was stated during the control visits to CAA by representatives of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and representatives of the European Union Agency for Air Traffic Safety ( EASA).
"In relation to the international standards that were adopted in accordance with the Chicago Convention, the degree of fulfillment of these standards when it comes to Montenegro is at the level of 87,35 percent, which represents the 15th place in the ICAO EUR/NAT region, which includes a total of 56 countries. In the past year, the Agency was subject to control visits by EASA representatives on two occasions, and currently only three findings have been opened, which are categorized with the lowest degree of seriousness and no impact on safety because they are of an administrative nature. Corrective activities related to these findings are implemented in accordance with the plan agreed with EASA", the CAA emphasizes.
The minister received requests for control
"Vijesti" interlocutors also question the manner in which the ACV completed the official certification of Podgorica Airport last year, which began in 2015.
"The certification was completed in May 2023, after the decision of the former management of ACV to offer the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs a constructive solution to the long and painful administrative procedure of issuing certificates. All this was done in order to show the efficiency of the aviation authorities and administration before actualizing the issue of the ACG concession, which was suspended due to the pandemic. After the offer of the CAA management, then Minister Osman Nurković issued an informal order for the preparation of a certificate in accordance with Article 40 of the Air Traffic Act, which was carried out in a hurry. Along with the certificate, a specification of the same was issued, which contains conditions and possibly additional conditions and restrictions that the airport operator should fulfill when using the Podgorica airport", claimed the interlocutor of "Vijesti".
At that moment, the CAA management forgot, says the "Vijesti" source, that the details of the specification are determined on the basis of a special article of the Law and are the subject of special administrative procedures, for example the airport's firefighting category, approach type, airport category, etc. are the subject of Article 47 of the law.
"Additionally, an oversight or mistake was made because the old document under which Podgorica Airport operated was canceled by the adoption of a new certificate," asserts the "Vijesti" source.
According to information from the newspaper, requests were submitted ten days ago to the current minister of transport, Maja Vukićević, to determine the legality of the "administrative act determining the use of Podgorica Airport in night conditions and conditions for category I instrument approach" and the "administrative act determining the airport's firefighting category." Podgorica".
from the CAA insisted that the certification of that airport was fully implemented in accordance with the Air Traffic Act and by-laws, therefore there is no problem for Montenegro regarding the closure of Chapter 14 in the EU accession process.
The CAA also adds that in the EC Report for Montenegro for 2023, the certification of Podgorica Airport was mentioned in a positive context.
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